"It's not about the outside, it's about the inside." Bellany doesn't understand why no one in her life understood that. Not even the annoying, rude, bitter, sadistic JERK her best friends tries to set her up with- AND HE WAS THE ONE WHO SAID IT TO HER

Bellany stared at her reflection in the mirror, turning her chin this way and that. She watched as the light played over her skin and made the make-up on her cheeks glitter. She smiled at the shadows from her cheek bones and the bridge of her nose. She took note of a new blemish appearing near her nose, but simply brushed it off. A blemish or two was normal, but it wasn't something she couldn't cover with a little bit of make-up.

Make-up. Bellany sighed at the thought of putting on more make-up. Yes, she loved make-up and what it did for her looks. It was the way she felt as she applied something to her face that made her uneasy. A wave of sadness overwhelmed her and she wondered if every girl felt that way at some point of their make-up wearing lives. The question of "Am I the only one?" always came to mind, but Bellany was good at brushing it off.

She was good at brushing little things off.

"Bellany, it's time to go," Jacob, her neighbor, shouted from outside of her bedroom door. Bellany sighed and touched the blemish next to her nose. She grabbed her concealer and slipped it into her pocket, reminding herself to apply some on in Jacob's car. Bellany's room was painted an impossible-to-match sea foam blue color that matched the nail polish on her fingers. Her bed frame was white, and she had bed sheets that were almost the same color as her walls. Bellany had loved the color when she was ten and her father had first moved in, but nine years later she wasn't so sure. She didn't want to ask to repaint, in fear that it would cost to much (even if she knew her father wouldn't mind).

"Let's go," Bellany grinned, dazzling Jacob with her smile. Jacob cleared his throat and nodded his head, following her through the house.

Jacob and Bellany had always grown up together, their parents instantly bonding over their similarly aged children. Bellany was always beautiful to Jacob- the first girl he had had dreams about. He knew it was a lost cause lusting after the beautiful neighbor, but Jacob couldn't help himself. She was perfect with her tanned brown skin and impossibly dark wide eyes. She was the only girl Jacob knew that looked good in anything, did well in everything and was an overall nice person. Sure, Bellany had her downfalls, but Jacob didn't mind. He was a blind man in love.

Alas, Bellany had already been over their little situation. She wasn't ignorant of Jacob's lustful feelings for her. In fact, she had known before he had known. He was always looking at her for too long and staring at places other than her face. Bellany knew she had a nicely proportioned body, but it was something she was insecure about. Jacob was Bellany's friend, and a friend he would stay.

"You can't like me Jacob," fifteen year-old Bellany had said, hands on her hips. She stood in front of him during one of their family's shared cook-outs. "I won't allow it."

"I can like whoever I want," Jacob muttered, blushing furiously while staring at his hands. He didn't want to look at Bellany, afraid that his eyes would stray from her's. He'd been doing that a lot, staring at different parts of her body. It had started with her hands, mostly her fingers, and how she always tapped her lips while she thought. Then he'd stare at her lips- full colored lips, always moist and conditioned perfectly. Then he noticed those little mounds that had started protruding from her chest a couple of years ago...

"You don't like me, Jacob," Bellany sighed, throwing her hands up. "You like the idea of me and the way I look. That's all anyone likes. I don't want to lose a friend over this."

"What if I harbor feelings from you from a distance?"

"Across the fence? That's some distance."

"I can't just suddenly not like you," Jacob pouted, crossing his arms defensively. His blush deepened. "You make it pretty easy to like you."

"Then you should just know that it'll never be anything more," Bellany sighed, sitting down next to him. She looked at her fingers. "I'm tired of boys just staring at me. I don't want you to get lost in the mix. You're my best friend."

"Then I'll just like you from over the fence. Okay?"

"Okay."

"First day of summer!" Jacob cried, throwing his hands into the air as they walked to his car. It was a beat up used car that Jacob had found and paid with his own well-earned money being the delivery boy of one of the pizza shops in town. It was an ugly brown color with one black door and seats that made your butt numb from just looking at them. Jacob had named the car "Cassidy."

"I think your car is going to die by the time we get to the lake," Bellany blanched, looking at the car with contempt. Bellany and "Cassidy" were not two peas in a pod. Bellany didn't mind the brown color or the black door or the uncomfortable seats. What did bother her was that the car's passenger seat belt rarely worked. And "Cassidy's" brakes didn't always cooperate. "I'm going to fly out of the window."

"Well, if you'd just get a car we wouldn't be in this predicament," Jacob sang, adjusting his mirrors. "You know your father would buy you anything you want."

"He does buy me anything I want," Bellany said, rolling her eyes. She looked down at her messenger bag (which had cost over 150 dollars) and felt guilt settle in her stomach for a moment. "I need to get my license before I get a car, anyways."

"You need to get your permit," Jacob reminded her, throwing a copy of the driver's test manual at her. "I saw them stacked to the ceiling at the library and thought you'd like one."

"Gee, thanks."

"That's what best friends are for, right?"

Oh my. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. I know I should update LaC, but there are so many versions of that next chapter- I'M OVERWHELMED. I'm also taking Summer I classes, and lord. Seven-week courses! PHEW! Is it already week four? Also, FictionPress looks all different. What is going on? I've been gone for too long!

Hope you enjoy. Please R&R!

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